Las Vegas Grand Prix, LVCVA eye new 5-10 year deal

A longer-term deal to keep the Formula One Las Vegas Grand Prix in Southern Nevada into the next decade is being eyed by race and area officials as the 2025 edition approaches.

The initial three-year deal between the Las Vegas Convention and Visitors Authority and F1 ends after this year’s race, set for Nov. 20-22, with a new two-year deal kicking in after that. Officials hope to ink a new deal, which could keep the race in Las Vegas for several years, following the 2027 grand prix.

Early talks are underway between the LVCVA and F1 on a new deal for five to 10 years, according to LVCVA president and CEO Steve Hill. That would keep Grand Prix in Las Vegas every year on the weekend before Thanksgiving through 2032 or even as late as 2037.

Capital expenditure

The expectation is that F1’s parent company, Liberty Media, will provide funding to make the race easier to set up and tear down each year, Las Vegas Grand Prix president and CEO Emily Prazer said.

“We see the disruption; the challenge has been from the offset that when you have a short time deal it’s hard to put a lot of capital expenditure, which any business would tell you the same thing,” Prazer said. “The longer-term deal we can get from the destination, the more we can invest in infrastructure to make this easier.”

That could include adding more permanent fixtures to simplify installation and removal of track elements such as lighting fixtures, which must be added and removed each year along the 3.8-mile circuit.

“Every year, we’re trying to tighten up both build up and take down (of the track),” Prazer said. “Take down is always faster than building. So, we’ll continue to keep pushing that as much as we can. I think the biggest thing is the lighting, I think if we can figure out what this long-term relationship looks like, it’s putting in year-round operational benefit to the destination too.”

Race infrastructure

Hill noted that it wouldn’t necessarily mean leaving track lighting and other elements installed year-round. Permanent elements would require far less time to set up and dismantle, meaning traffic wouldn’t be disrupted as much.

“If you put a base in the median that you could come along each year and just put the stanchion in the median and the light cantilever can go out over onto the Strip, you won’t have to close that turn lane,” Hill said. “That’s just one example. There’s a number of places where you can look at how the temporary nature of what we’re doing right now is more disruptive than what a permanent set of fixtures could be.”

This year’s race features a four-month time frame from track setup in September and dismantling completed around Christmas.

The 2023 race saw nine months of traffic implications as crews paved the 3.8-mile circuit to F1 and race governing body FIA standards, along with track set up and tear down.

The LVCVA is spending $6.5 million to sponsor next week’s Las Vegas Grand Prix and $10 million per year to sponsor the 2026 and 2027 races. An additional annual race sponsorship deal by the LVCVA would also likely be part of a new long term deal.

Ready to invest

F1’s initial investment into Las Vegas of $500 million secured 39 acres at the northeast corner of Harmon Avenue and Koval Lane and erected a multistory, 300,000 square-foot space that is Grand Prix Plaza. That is proof they are not hesitant to invest further into the city, Prazer said.

“If we’ve done anything, we’ve proved that we’re willing to put up money, so this isn’t about us not wanting to invest in Las Vegas,” Prazer said. “We continue to want to, we just need to have the security of the partnerships to be able to do so.”

Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on X.